Roca Brings Outreach Work to Lynn

by Nick Randell, Program Officer
2016-June 22

Don Matteson and I had the recent
pleasure of attending the grand opening of Roca's satellite office in Lynn, Massachusetts. The official ribbon-cutting took place on
June 13th, with probably 60 or more community stakeholders (law
enforcement, courts, elected officials, funding partners) there to celebrate
the event. The grand opening was a busy
scene, but Don and I were able to speak with Roca CEO Molly Baldwin; Emily
Fish, who will run the satellite office; and outreach supervisor Henry Thai -
among others.

Roca's intervention model for
young men with felony convictions, many with substance use challenges, is to
engage them where they live, on the streets, and, if needed, in court and rehab
facilities. Roca gets these young men on
work teams in the community, and provides workshops with a curriculum that
recognizes their day-to-day realities. But most importantly, Roca's youth
outreach workers are relentless in
maintaining contact and a vital personal connection. And the commitment
is long-term. Roca's clients stay with the program for up
to four years.

The Tower Foundation is about
a year into a four-year grant with Roca. Our grant helps support the expansion of services from an office in Chelsea (a near-Boston suburb) to Lynn. Last fall, on a site visit, I did a "ride along" with outreach worker Sean Hansen. We
drove from Chelsea to Lynn where we picked up a young man who was in recovery
and gave him a ride to a local elementary school where he was to meet his niece
and walk her home. He had been a
no-show at a work assignment that morning and Sean wanted to check in with him. A
lot of the outreach is just the youth worker inserting themselves into the
lives of these young men. That morning, Sean had taken another client to the
wake of a close friend, a victim of gun violence.

I did see first-hand how much
time was taken transporting young men from Lynn back to programming in Chelsea,
so I have a sense how nice it will be to have an actual space in Lynn. Fortuitously, Roca was recently approached by
the Lynn Police Department and asked to expand the Lynn caseload. The resulting agreement made a brick and
mortar presence in Lynn a possibility. Within months, a bright and welcoming
space was up and running. They expect to
serve 100 Lynn youth soon, up from 42 currently enrolled.

Roca effectively leverages
program data to show that its approach works. Reported numbers from a recent grant report are clear and convincing. 100% of the young men enrolled 24 months or
longer had no new arrests. 86% receiving
job placement were still employed after 90 days. 86% of those identified with substance abuse
issues were making progress on individual use reduction goals within six months
of enrollment.